Page 398 - Kosovo Metohija Heritage

The Finding of the Head of the Prince Lazar, painting by Marko Murat, ca. 1920
There resteth to Serbia a glory,
A glory that shall not grow old;
There remaineth to Serbia a story,
A tale to be chanted and told!
They are gone to their graves grim and gory The beautiful, brave, and bold;
But out of the darkness and desolation
Of the mourning heart of a widow’d nation, Their memory waketh an exultation!
Yea, so long as a babe shall be born,
Or there resteth a man in the land-”
So long as a blade of corn
Shall be reap’d by a human hand-”
So long as the grass shall grow
On the mighty plain of Kossovo-”
So long, so long, even so,
Shall the glory of those remain
Who this day in battle were slain”
Translated by Owen Meredith
Serbian Kosovo Ballad
Countless Kosovo epic is not based on conquering arrogance, but on pride of those who defeated the conquerors with spirit as a weapon Because of this, it does not endanger anyone, it does not threaten anyone Myth of Kosovo surpasses boundaries of a national myth, with its essence it joins the highest productsofhumanspirit,gatheredinanimaginarymuseumofunitedEuropeanculture Kosovochoice is the highest ethical principle, which, given to us by Greeks, became our historical experience
Kingdom of heaven, which Lazar chose, it is that top spirit point, where according to Breton, all contradictories resolve; where, Laza Kostić wrote, those disproportionate temperature differences in universe are created and dreams and reality are united; where Dis saw those eyes beyond any evil, and Rastko Petrović saw his Great friend This spirit point is not recorded in earthly books; it is “made up” likeallhumanspiritcreations,frompoetrytomathematics However,thatiswhyitisnolessrealorun- necessary Kosovo choice, it is above all a spiritual and poetic choice... If today we remember the Kosovo choice, it is because we have forgotten, in our huge hurry to get closer to European culture, that our tradi-
tion makes up a part of that culture
Zoran Mišić
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